olor
/oˈloɾ/masculine
The English word 'smell' (noun) is translated into Spanish as olor. Wiktionary also lists fato.
Meaning: sensation (noun)
Ways to say it
| Spanish | IPA | Note |
|---|---|---|
| olor | /oˈloɾ/ | masculine |
| fato | /ˈfato/ | masculine |
Olor is the neutral noun used to describe the sensation of a scent. In Spanish, it is very common to immediately follow olor with adjectives such as buen (good) or mal (bad) to specify the quality of the scent.
Which one should you use?
Olor refers to the sensation itself, while the related verb oler is used to describe the act of perceiving a scent or the property of an object emitting a scent.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
The noun olor is masculine. Its plural form is olores.
How do you pronounce it?
/oˈloɾ/
Did you know?
- In some Spanish dialects, the phrase oler a can be used figuratively to mean that something is likely or suspected, similar to 'smelling a rat' in English.
- The word hedor is used specifically for an extremely foul smell, serving as a more intense version of mal olor.
- The verb oler is a stem-changing verb, meaning the 'o' changes to 'ue' in most present tense forms, such as yo huelo.
Examples in context
- ¿Qué es ese olor?What's that smell?This sentence is useful for asking about the identity of a specific smell using olor.Tatoeba #1999355 by marcelostockle, translation #1886688 by CK
- Este olor me da asco.This smell disgusts me.This sentence shows how to express disgust toward an olor.Tatoeba #1342170 by marcelostockle, translation #60749 by CK
- El olor era espantoso.The smell was horrible.This sentence describes the quality of an olor.Tatoeba #1705115 by marcelostockle, translation #3752937 by cromwellt
- El olor de las flores es encantador.The smell of the flowers is enchanting.
- La fragancia de ese perfume es exquisita.The fragrance of that perfume is exquisite.
- ¿Has sentido el olor de la comida? Huele delicioso.Have you smelled the food? It smells delicious.
- ¡El aroma del café recién hecho me despierta por las mañanas!The aroma of freshly brewed coffee wakes me up in the mornings!
- ¿Huele a tacos al pastor? ¡Me encanta ese olor!Do you smell tacos al pastor? I love that smell!
- 58 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Daniel and Elena are in the kitchen.
- DanielElena, ¿qué olor es este?Elena, what is this smell?
- ElenaEs el olor del café recién hecho.It is the smell of freshly brewed coffee.
- DanielMe encanta ese olor por la mañana.I love that smell in the morning.
- ElenaYo también, es muy relajante.Me too, it is very relaxing.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “smell” translations and entries olor, fato, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
